Superlatives...

I tend to heap praises on my little boy. I'll fully admit that I'm a sucker for recognition and admiration myself, and I think it's important to offer praise to others.

I don't mean jumping up and down or clapping every time he eats a cherrio of course. But we clap after singing songs. I'll offer praise for putting on his sandals by himself or identifying his letters correctly. The works "great job" are known to come out of my mouth from time to time (and time and time again!).

We'll talk about how we love something or someone, how we like something, what is good, better and perfect. (like how he "perfectly" lines up his sandal buckets for fastening).

Well.. As usual, my boy picks up my habits. He's taken to use the words "love" and "perfect" quite frequently. As an example, he was helping me set the table tonight. I handed him forks and salad dressing to carry to the table - he placed each atop with the definitive words "That's perfect". He praises Iced Tea, "John loves iced tea".

It's quite adorable now, but I wonder if his use of superlatives will diminish his measure of quality at all. Will my praise of "good job" mean any less to him than "that's perfect"? I think I need to look a bit at how I use these words myself --